Storage: An Interesting Grocery Conundrum

This is the advertisement in the Wednesday “Food” section of The Washington Post from Harris Teeter, a local grocery store. The point of it is that the store is looking out for the economic health of its customers and giving away items for free – albeit with a purchase. If a customer was going to buy one box of triscuit crackers, why not buy two – and then the store will GIVE him three more boxes for free. As Americans we are all accustomed to this type of pitch. There’s even an acronym for it in its purest form: BOGO – buy one; get one. This however, goes over the top – B2G3?

As someone who has been living in Japan for quite a long time, it’s not just the health concern that gets me – as in, beyond having a party, who the heck is going to eat all of those hotdogs before their shelf (or freezer) life expires?? But it’s also the space. Buy two CASES of Pepsi, each of which contains 12 cans of cola, and then get another three cases, 36 more cans, for free. I can’t think of anyone I know in Japan who has storage for 60 cans of soda. I guess many Americans do have that type of storage in closet or basement, but people in Japan, especially Tokyo, do not. Japanese kitchens are smaller in general, have smaller cabinets and significantly smaller refrigerators than American kitchens. It has become fascinating to me what people in the U.S. actually keep in their cupboards. There’s a lot of “stuff” in there that people don’t even remember they have.

I do not mean to criticize – just remark. I can hardly criticize – I used to do it myself! I’ve just gotten way away from it in the past 6+ years of living outside of the U.S. If you can store all of that stuff, then you are lucky to have the space. It’s just really interesting to this American girl who has moved away from it all.